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Voice of a Century...Clinton’s tribute to the Queen of Soul

Queen of Soul legend Aretha Franklin (Image: REUTERS)

MUSIC legends gathered for Aretha Franklin’s star-studded send-off, befitting the unrivalled Queen of Soul. With former US President Bill Clinton giving a eulogy and generations of stars among the mourners, Aretha was laid to rest yesterday before a global television audience.

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There was also, of course, music, with performances by Stevie Wonder, Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson.

Singer Smokey Robinson who first met Aretha after playing with her brother aged eight, said: “Now my longest friend has gone home, and you want to be with our Father, like we all have to be one of these days.

“You’re going to be one of the featured voices in the choir of angels.”

Earlier, a white hearse carrying the star’s body arrived at the Greater Grace Temple two hours before the service began, greeted by fans who had gathered outside since dawn broke.

Mourners were given a glimpse of the Respect singer during an open casket viewing at the church prior to the service.

She was dressed in a sparkling full-length gown with sequinned heels. It was the fourth outfit Ms Franklin’s body had appeared in during a week of events that included high-profile public viewings and tribute concerts.

Former US President Bill Clinton (Image: GETTY)

The street outside the church was also filled with pink Cadillacs – a nod to Franklin’s funky 1980s tune Freeway Of Love, which featured the car.

Her coffin had been carried by a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle hearse that also took Ms Franklin’s father, legendary minister CL Franklin, and civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks to their final resting places at Woodlawn Cemetery, where the singer yesterday joined them.

Bishop Charles Ellis III, who led the marathon service, said: “This was not a concert, this was not a show, this was not an awards production. This was a real life that has been lived.”

As well as being a multi-Grammy winning performer, Ms Franklin was a political activist.

She was involved in the US civil rights movement and sang at the funeral of Dr Martin Luther King Jr in 1968. She also performed at the 2009 inauguration of America’s first ever black president, Barack Obama.

In one of her final interviews, Ms Franklin said: “I feel very, very enriched and satisfied with respect to where my career came from and where it is now.”